Electroplated abrasive products have been known in the art for many years. So called "electroless" plating has been used in producing such articles as indicated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,411,867; 3,488,166; 3,591,350; 3,629,922; 3,668,130; 4,079,552; and 4,160,049.
Electroless plating involves the use of a solution of the metal to be deposited which solution also contains a reducing agent capable, without the use of an electric current, reducing the metal so as to plate it on a suitable prepared substrate exposed in the solution.
The use of a electric current to assist the deposition of metal from an electroless plating solution is disclosed for specialized applications, unrelated to the production of abrasive products, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,644,787, and 3,577,324.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved technique for the codeposition of abrasive grain and metal bond on a suitable substrate. The process of this invention enables the production of thin flexible abrasive sheet material comprising abrasive particles bonded to a plastic film by a metal plating.